Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>We highlight 27 Korean companies that are seeking to find new owners through M&amp;A in 2016. Key sectors of M&amp;A in Korea in 2016 include financials, shipbuilding, and logistics.&nbsp;Our analysis is based on publicly available information.&nbsp;</li><li>To recap the M&amp;A market in Korea last year, 427 M&amp;A deals were struck in 2015 worth nearly US$65 billion. 2016 is likely to fare even better.&nbsp;</li><li>Korea Inc. is becoming less of an octopus and more of a shark. Korea is still dominated by the chaebols but several chaebols such as the Samsung Group are clearly trying to become more of a shark (greater focus on key industries such as tech) and less of an octopus, being diversified in so many different industries.</li><li>Korean companies' top&nbsp;300 largest companies by market capitalization had cash of about 128 trillion won at end of 2015, up&nbsp;33% YoY.&nbsp;</li><li>Among the various M&amp;A sectors in Korea in 2016, we find logistics and securities sectors to be quite interesting. In the logistics sector, Coupang (private company) is really revolutionizing the entire competitive structure of the industry. The companies that have been competing in this&nbsp;old, dull industry of packing products in boxes and delivering them must compete effectively against Coupang and catch up to them in terms of customer service, speed, and execution or else exit the industry.</li><li>In the securities sector, the recent acquisition of KDB Securities by Mirae Asset Securities, should lead to greater consolidation of this industry. In addition, despite the weak brokerage market, the IPO and M&amp;A markets in Korea should flourish this year, barring severe economic distress. The Korean government is also trying to accelerate the M&amp;A market in Korea this year.&nbsp;The Korean National Assembly passed the revisions to the Commercial Code in November 2015 (effective March 2016) which should help to facilitate companies&rsquo; restructuring and investment through M&amp;A.</li></ul>

We highlight 27 Korean companies that are seeking to find new owners through M&amp;A in 2016. Key sectors of M&amp;A in Korea in 2016 include financials, shipbuilding, and logistics.&nbsp;Our analysis is based on publicly available information.&nbsp;To recap the M&amp;A market in Korea last year, 427 M&amp;A deals were struck in 2015 worth nearly US$65 billion. 2016 is likely to fare even better.&nbsp;Korea Inc. is becoming less of an octopus and more of a shark. Korea is still dominated by the chaebols but several chaebols such as the Samsung Group are clearly trying to become more of a shark (greater focus on key industries such as tech) and less of an octopus, being diversified in so many different industries.Korean companies' top&nbsp;300 largest companies by market capitalization had cash of about 128 trillion won at end of 2015, up&nbsp;33% YoY.&nbsp;Among the various M&amp;A sectors in Korea in 2016, we find logistics and securities sectors to be quite interesting. In the logistics sector, Coupang (private company) is really revolutionizing the entire competitive structure of the industry. The companies that have been competing in this&nbsp;old, dull industry of packing products in boxes and delivering them must compete effectively against Coupang and catch up to them in terms of customer service, speed, and execution or else exit the industry.In the securities sector, the recent acquisition of KDB Securities by Mirae Asset Securities, should lead to greater consolidation of this industry. In addition, despite the weak brokerage market, the IPO and M&amp;A markets in Korea should flourish this year, barring severe economic distress. The Korean government is also trying to accelerate the M&amp;A market in Korea this year.&nbsp;The Korean National Assembly passed the revisions to the Commercial Code in November 2015 (effective March 2016) which should help to facilitate companies&rsquo; restructuring and investment through M&amp;A.

2016 Korea M&A Market Outlook - What's For Sale?

Portfolio Manager

Kenton Leo

Kelusa Asia Focus Funds

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/107" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:107">Hotel Shilla</a> is about to see both a sharp cyclical and structural downturn in its business.</li><li>As a result, expect to see sharp operating deleverage.</li><li>This means earnings will have to be revised down by 50% - 60%.</li><li>The stock is trading at 35x 2016 PE instead of the 16x that consensus estimates imply.</li></ul>

Hotel Shilla is about to see both a sharp cyclical and structural downturn in its business.As a result, expect to see sharp operating deleverage.This means earnings will have to be revised down by 50% - 60%.The stock is trading at 35x 2016 PE instead of the 16x that consensus estimates imply.

Hotel Shilla: Entering a Cyclical And Structural Downturn

South Korea

SK Networks Co., Ltd. is a general trading company.  The Company trades general merchandise, such as steel, oil, timber, petrochemical, household appliances, clothing, textile products, and information technology equipment.  SK Networks provides insurance and financial services through subsidiaries.

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SK Networks (001740 KS)

2016 Korea M&A Market Outlook - What's For Sale?

We highlight 27 Korean companies that are seeking to find new owners through M&A in 2016. Key sectors of M&A in Korea in 2016 include...

Douglas Kim

Hotel Shilla: Entering a Cyclical And Structural Downturn

Hotel Shilla is about to see both a sharp cyclical and structural downturn in its business. As a result, expect to see sharp operating...

Kenton Leo

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